Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Welcome
contemporary romance author Shelley Lieber, er, or is it Elyse Grant. We are privileged
today to get double—maybe even triple—the author.Shelley Lieber describes herself as an author with a split
personality. Her alter ego Elyse Grant seized control of her writing one day
and produced THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX, described by one reviewer as “sexy and exciting while also
exploring the everyday problems most women are dealing with.” As a publishing
consultant, Shelley Lieber has published 4Ps to
Publishing Success and Publishing Made Easy
& Profitable. She also blogs about vegan food and what
it’s like being a vegan.

Shelley
lives in North Carolina with her husband and her other personalities. They all
like to read romance,
comedy, drama, and documentaries, and spend time with friends. Also, they have
a Muse and they all love her.

Don't miss the excerpt following the interview.

Click the link at the end of this article to check out the First Love Blog Hop and learn about other participating authors and how to win a Kindle and many more prizes.

Q: Given that
you are split personalities, I feel compelled to address questions to each of
you.Let’s start with Elyse. What
inspired you to write THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX (I love that title)?

Elyse Grant: (Thank you ;-)
THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX began life as a nonfiction book by Shelley Lieber
about re-entering the dating scene at age 40+ after divorce. I’m a fiction
writer and I’d been waiting many years to emerge. My opportunity finally showed
up one day when Shelley was struggling to organize and present all the stories
she had conducted from her real-life interviews with divorced and separated
women as research for the book. I saw her falter in frustration and I quickly
jumped out and took over the keyboard, introducing her to the characters of
Leah Gold and Roxanne Stein. Suddenly everything seemed to fall into place, and
the story of THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX unfolded.

Q: One of your
reviewers said that THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX provided “a
great balance of sexuality and everything else that goes into life. The author
has created a wonderful and realistic context for showing how women can become
their own person.” When you decided to write this book was your goal to offer
an entertaining book or to deliver a message?

Elyse Grant: Both. The book has been described as
“erotica with a message,” but in truth, it’s women’s contemporary fiction with
erotic scenes. As a genre, contemporary women’s fiction confronts issues of
modern-day women and their relationships with men, other women, careers, and
children. My intention was to explore some of these issues. Of course, a book
must be entertaining, or who will read it? So, my goal was to explore the
issues in an entertaining and engaging way.

Q: How important is sexuality to
telling your story?

Elyse Grant: Sexuality is an important component
of a woman’s life and integral to stories about women. THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX
explores many components of a woman’s life through two main and two minor female
characters. Sexuality is important to the story, but no more so than motherhood
or creative expression.

Q: Elyse: How do you convince readers
to care what happens to your characters?

Elyse Grant: I don’t try to convince anyone of
anything. I do try to create multifaceted characters who exhibit a range of
emotions and ideas, who make mistakes and have failures, and who are vulnerable
but strong enough to persevere and succeed. As a reader, I know I care about
characters I like or admire, and I believe my readers feel the same way.

Q:Who are your intended readers? What are
they looking for?

Elyse Grant: Well, that’s
really a question for Shelley. She’s all about target markets and things like
that. But I’d say my ideal reader is a woman who appreciates that the pursuit
of purpose, passion, and fulfillment is a bumpy, but enjoyable ride.

Q: Now let’s give
Shelley a chance to respond. Why are you a writer? When did you first realize
that you are a writer?

Shelley Lieber: I am a writer because that’s what I am.
There’s nothing else I do that feels as joyful or fulfilling. I don’t know that
I ever “realized” I was a writer...however, there was a day when I realized
that I would write for a living and publish my work. I was in my 20s and on
vacation at a beach house. I suddenly “saw” myself on the porch of the cottage
with a typewriter and knew that one day my vision would be real. It wasn’t that
surprising to me, really. I majored in English, loved books, and was working in
the publishing industry as a book editor at the time. I began my writing career
some years later as a magazine editor and writer. I became a copywriter and
worked in advertising, marketing, and public relations for a while. But,
fiction was always my first love, and fortunately Elyse Grant popped out one
day to assume that role.

Q: Who are the
Wordy Woman and The Vegan Novelist? (You really do have a lot of
personalities!)

Shelley Lieber: The Wordy
Woman is a publishing professional with almost 40 years experience in the
industry. She wrote 4Ps to Publishing Success and Publishing Made Easy & Profitable. She helps new and aspiring authors write and publish their work.

The
Vegan Novelist demanded recognition in Summer 2012 and started a vegan food and
lifestyle blog. She was inspired to write about her participation in a
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program with a local organic farm.

The
problem we face as a multiple personality is that we share the same 24 hours.
So, if Vegan Novelist is blogging, Elyse isn’t writing, and Shelley isn’t serving
clients. Balance has not yet been achieved. Hence, since THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX has occupied our attention in the past months, Vegan Novelist has not
blogged since last summer (although she appears in the kitchen at mealtimes).

Q: Tell us
something about yourselves. When you’re not writing, what do you all do?
Hobbies? Sailing? Knitting? Standup comedy? Favorite music?Favorite authors? Do you have a muse?

Shelley Lieber: For the most
part, there’s not too much conflict with what to do with leisure time. We enjoy
the same kinds of books and movies: romance, comedy, drama, and documentaries.
We steer clear of horror, violence, and things that don’t feel good.We lean to “green” in lifestyle and
diet, and love to spend time with family and friends. We absolutely have a Muse
and we love her!

About Shelley
Lieber/Elyse Grant/Wordy Woman/The Vegan Novelist

Shelley
Lieber is an author with a split personality. As The Wordy Woman,
publishing consultant, she wrote 4Ps to
Publishing Success and Publishing
Made Easy & Profitable for new and aspiring authors. Her wilder side
writes erotic fiction under the pen name Elyse Grant.THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX is her debut
novel. A third personality common to both Shelley and Elyse is Vegan Novelist, who blogs
about vegan food and lifestyle.

Shelley
is what native North Carolinians not so fondly call a “halfback.” Originally
from New York, she moved to Florida, then to North Carolina. Shelley now lives
in Asheville, NC, with her husband, who is remarkably patient and skillful at
adjusting to her personality switches.

THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX, a novel by Elyse Grant (aka Shelley Lieber), is the
steamy hot and often funny story of best friends Leah Gold and Roxanne Stein,
each trying to break free of the “happily ever after” fairy tale myth. Leah
begins
an introspective journey through her past for answers. When she discovers what
really stands between her and happiness, she sets off on a mission to help
spare other women the pain of looking for love in all the wrong places—even
though she knows her crusade may just be a battle that destroys her real
prince. In contrast to the reclusive Leah, Roxie teeters on the edge of
self-destruction as she tries to satisfy her unquenchable thirst for
excitement. Drugs and sex don't diminish her cravings, and the man she falls
for, while charming, is no prince. Once they team up on a crazy trip from their
South Florida home to Philadelphia and New York, they stumble onto how to save themselves, each other, and perhaps womankind—a
surprise to everyone, especially themselves.

“I want you to
know that I think it’s pretty rude for you to leave, knowing I came here to
meet you. I closed my shop early and you can’t even take a minute to poke your
head in and say hi. Who the hell do you think you are?”

Leah stared at
him for a moment, trying to take it all in. “Tom?”

“Yeah, I’m
Tom.”

“I’m so sorry.
You’re right. It was rude. I guess I wasn’t thinking straight.” Leah wished the
ground would open and swallow her up. “Something happened, and I…I guess I
didn’t think at all.”

“Sounds to me
more like you were just thinking about yourself.”

Leah rarely
found herself at a loss for words, but Tom took her breath away. Lydia had been
less than truthful again. Tom was not merely good looking. He was gorgeous. His
green eyes snapped under dark eyebrows as he stood there glaring at her. He was
tanned, and she caught sight of straight, white teeth as he snapped at her.

Leah bit her
lower lip. “Look, Tom, I know I haven’t exactly made a great first impression,
but if you’ll give me another chance…”

Tom looked into
her eyes, but didn’t say anything.

She held out
her hand to him. “Hi, Tom. I’m Leah. Thank you for coming to meet me.”

His entire
posture relaxed. Tom had been keyed up, ready for a fight, but Leah seemed to
knock the wind out of him. His mouth softened from a straight, angry line to a
grin. “Nice to meet you, Leah. I probably shouldn’t have told you off like
that. It’s just that…I haven’t been having such great luck lately with women,
and I guess I took it out on you.”

“Actually, it was
my own misfortunes with men that had me leaving so soon.”

The two stood
in silence for a moment, just looking at one another.

“Would you like
to go back inside?” Tom asked.

“No!” Leah
answered. “But tell me, how well do you know Lydia and Philip?”

“Not very well.
I met Lydia at the gym and I’ve done some printing jobs for them—programs,
flyers, and things. I’ve met Philip once or twice when I dropped off their
orders.”

“You’re a
printer?”

“Yes, I have a
shop in Pompano. How about you, Leah? Where do you work?”

They stood in
the parking lot talking, not paying attention to the darkening sky or the time
passing. Leah was so engrossed in their conversation that she was suddenly
startled to hear Ali calling her name from a distance.

“Mom, what are
you doing out there?” Ali stood in the theater doorway. She made her way to
Leah’s car. “I was looking all over for you when I came out of class. Why are
you in the parking lot?”

“Ali, this is
Tom Ryan. Tom, my daughter Alison.”

“Hi, Ali,” Tom
extended his hand.

“Hi, nice to
meet you,” Ali said as she shook his hand. She turned to Leah. “Can we go now?
I’m starving.”

“All right,
Ali. Get in the car. I’ll be right there.”

Leah winced as
Ali slammed the car door, but smiled at Tom. “Thanks again for coming tonight.
I’m glad you followed me out here, even if it was to tell me off!”

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Jeff LaFerney
writes about a father/son whodunit team who have a bit of an advantage over the bad guys. Although they live in "the real world," they both have mind-controlling abilities. LaFerney has published three Clay and Tanner Thomas novels described by one reviewer as"a stunner
mental gifts series.”

A coach and
language arts teacher for more than 20 years, LaFerney today lives in Michigan. Helikes tolaugh, and believes he spends way too much time on Facebook. His favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird and his favorite movie is the "inconceivable" Princess Bride -- both favorites of mine. Click the link at the end of this article to check out the First Love Blog Hop and learn about other participating authors and how to win a Kindle and many more prizes.

Q: What
inspired you to write about a father/son team with mind-controlling abilities
as a whodunit series?

Jeff LaFerney: I had an idea—which
I didn’t use—about a basketball-playing son who transferred schools, and then
his JV coaching father got fired as a result. When the head coach was murdered,
the boy’s father, who was framed, was arrested. In order to get out of jail to
solve the mystery, I came up with the mind-control abilities. After studying
the brain, I came up with a theory about parapsychology that I used in the
books, but I also came up with a different plot.

Q: How did you
create, as one reviewer said, “characters you'll love to love and others you'll
love to hate”? Your reviewers really appreciate your characters. Are they based
on people you know?

Jeff LaFerney: It seems like my “bad guys” and my minor
characters are reader favorites, and they’re nothing like anyone I know. They’re
fun to write about, though, because I make them up completely. I think readers
like my heroes because they’re strong morally, they’re loyal to each other and they
have a good sense of humor.

Q: How do you
help readers believe and accept the world and characters you create?

Jeff LaFerney: My characters
are really just regular guys. The parapsychology is looked at as both a gift
and a curse. They don’t believe that others should be manipulated, but they
also believe in justice, so they use their gifts to obtain clues that others
are unable to procure. My “world” is actually very realistic and my characters
believable.

Q: Is humor
important to telling your story?

Jeff LaFerney:I
love to use physical humor and witty dialogue.To me, it balances the drama, the sadness, and the suspense
and makes for a read that runs a gamut of emotions.

Q: Could your
story occur in any setting? Or is the setting a critical part of the story?

Jeff LaFerney: Well, I wrote
all three books with settings close to where I live. I did it because in the
first book, the sports and setting were comfort zones. When readers liked the
story, I used other local settings, which has helped me to sell a lot of books.
People living in my county will recognize the settings, but those settings
could have been anywhere. They aren’t critical.

Q: Do you write
purely for entertainment? Or do you have something to say to your readers?

Jeff LaFerney:I
write mostly for entertainment, but
as an English teacher who teaches literature in school, I feel that my stories
should have recognizable themes and, I’m proud to say, moral values.

Q: Why are you
a writer?When did you first know
that you wanted to be a writer?

Jeff LaFerney: I’ve always
enjoyed the stories I’ve written, but I decided to write a novel because of the
classroom library I was building. There were a lot of books I read that were
award-winners that I didn’t think were very good, and I kept telling myself I
could do better. Because of some life circumstances, I decided it was time to
do something new with my life, so I chose to write a book. I have three—none of
which has won an award. How ironic is that?

Q:Tell us something about yourself, e.g.,
do you like to exercise? Eat? Go to plays? What’s your favorite holiday, book,
author, character, play, movie, celebrity? What do you do when you’re
not writing? Do you have a muse?

Jeff LaFerney: I’m
from a very athletic family. My wife and I both played three varsity sports and
so did my son and daughter. My dad and I were both successful coaches, and I’ve
played sports my whole life, so I still exercise. I love salty foods better
than sweet ones, except I love
Mountain Dew. I love action movies, especially with super heroes, but my
favorite is The Princess Bride. My
favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird,
and my favorite authors are Robert B. Parker, Harlan Coban, John Grisham,
Michael Crichton, and John Irving. I read more than I write, I My blog is all about fun. I’d love for people to check that
out too.

My books are suspense and mystery. Clay and Tanner Thomas
are a father/son team. Each of the books can be read alone, so I’d love for
people to check them out and choose one to get started on. I’m grateful, Joyce,
for you to spotlight me and introduce me to your followers. Thank you.

About Jeff LaFerney

Jeff LaFerney has been a language arts
teacher and coach for more than twenty years. He earned his English and
teaching degrees from the University of Michigan-Flint and his master's degree
in educational leadership from Eastern Michigan University. He and Jennifer,
his wife of twenty-five years, live in Davison, Michigan. Torey and Teryn are
their two children. LOVING THE RAIN
is his first novel in the Clay and Tanner Thomas series. The second, SKELETON KEY, and the third, BULLETPROOF, are paranormal mysteries, set
in the Flint area.When Jeff sets
a goal, he achieves it; when he has a friendship, he cherishes it; and when he
imagines, he writes about it.He
loves competing at sports, connecting to good books, and creating words that
make people laugh.

Mind powers are to be kept unused and secret. At least that's what
Clay Thomas believes until a determined rival from his past enters his life,
seeking revenge. When Clay discovers that his athletic son has his own mind
powers, they set out together to undo consequences from Clay's past and to put
an end to Jack Harding's plans. As his enemy closes in and Clay and Tanner's
powers grow, Clay is forced to choose between protecting his secrets and
protecting those he loves most. LOVING THE RAIN, the first stand-alone novel in
the Clay and Tanner Thomas series, is a suspenseful story about an
exceptional man forced to face the choices of his past and the extraordinary
love and forgiveness that finally offer him peace from a lifetime of secrecy.

After a tragic train wreck, Depot co-owner, Adrian Payne disappears.
Seven years later, Clay Thomas meets Payne's beautiful wife and determines to
help her by using his mind powers to solve the mystery of Payne's
disappearance. With the help of Clay's son, Tanner, the local chief of police,
and Adrian Payne's ghost, Clay discovers the body, catapulting the
investigators into a mystery--a mystery with more questions than answers. If
there was foul play, why do the coroner and Adrian's ghost disagree? If there
wasn't foul play, why do all the suspects appear to be guilty? A twisted plot,
full of surprises and interesting characters is the result. Lessons of faith,
friendship, personal growth, and peace give meaning to a one-of-a-kind mystery.
SKELETON KEY, a stand-alone novel, is the second in the Clay and Tanner Thomas
series.

After a devastating injury to his father, Clay Thomas is abandoned by
two of the people closest to him while being pursued by the local police chief
for crimes he didn't commit. He is determined to find the culprit of a series
of local robberies while fulfilling a promise to a ghost to solve his
eleven-year-old murder. Clay and his son, Tanner, incorporate their unique
mind-control abilities to solve the crimes, restoring broken relationships in
the process. BULLETPROOF, a stand-alone novel, is the third exciting
installment in the Clay and Tanner Thomas mystery/suspense series.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Welcome contemporary horror author J. L. Petty who took a break from working on her
masters degree to fill us in on her first published work. Inspired by a real event, DEATH AND THE JOURNALIST (Solstice Publishing) tells the story of a journalist who disappears one night
following a plane crash upon meeting some kind of supernatural force.The story is “a thoughtfully entertaining
read that puts a fresh spin on one person's encounter with Death,” according to
a reviewer. In addition to writing contemporary horror short stories, J.L.
Petty has written suspense, science fiction, and fantasy fiction, and has
published works in a variety of magazines and anthologies.

She has a dog named Chewbacca, and her favorite author is Michael Crichton.

Q: What do you
consider “horror”?

J.L. Petty: I
consider a shuddering feeling of fear the definition of horror.

Q: How do you make
your stories “scary”?

J.L. Petty:I make my stories scary by having really
horrifying villains. I think having a great villain makes the story great.

Q: What inspires you to write horror
stories?

J.L. Petty: I am inspired to write horror stories
by watching horror movies. I particularly like the indie movies because they
always have fresh concepts that haven’t been seen with mainstream audiences
yet.

Q: How do you make us
care about your characters?

J.L. Petty:I make readers care about my characters
by using vivid imagery when describing them. Most writers struggle with showing
versus telling. I always try my best to paint a really vivid character
description.

Q: Are you in control
of your characters? Or do they push you around?

J.L. Petty:I am definitely in control of my
characters. lol. I may have an idea of how I want the characters to be that is
stuck in my head. But then, when I start writing, I completely change my mind.

Q: How important is
back story? Do you do any research for credibility?

J.L. Petty: I
think back stories are extremely important; so that the story flow makes sense.
I do a lot of research for credibility. It is extremely important because
readers will email me with criticism and that can be embarrassing lol.

Q: Why are you a
writer?When did you first know
that you wanted to be a writer?

J.L. Petty: I am a writer because I grew up
reading. My mother is a school teacher and she would always promote literacy in
our house. So from an early age, I always had an aesthetic appreciation for
literary arts and writing. I knew I wanted to be a writer when I was 9 years
old. I would write short stories to my mother in class. She was always
encouraging me.

Q: Tell us something about yourself,
e.g., do you like to read? Eat? What’s your favorite charity, holiday, book,
author, character, play, movie, celebrity? What do you do when
you’re not writing? Do you have a muse? Do you like dogs or cats?

J.L. Petty:When I’m not writing, I am in school working on a master’s
degree in education. I have a dog named Chewbacca; so I am a dog lover.My favorite author is Michael
Crichton…and my favorite book is Congo. My favorite movie is Casino. I don’t have
a muse yet; though, I’d love to have one someday. My favorite holiday is
Christmas. Also, my favorite play is Lion King; it has beautiful scenery. My
favorite celebrity is Robert Dinero and my favorite charity is water.org.
Around the world, there are thousands that don’t have fresh drinking water. I
donate to their cause once a year.

Author Bio

J.L. Petty is an author of several short stories. She
published her first book DEATH AND THE JOURNALIST with Solstice Publishing,
February 14, 2011. Her stories range in contemporary horror, suspense, science
fiction, and fantasy fiction.Over
the years, she’s written for various magazines and has been featured as an
author in several anthologies. Petty discovered her love of writing at an early
age and started working as a contributor for The Virginian Pilot Newspaper.
After working with the local newspaper in her hometown, J.L. Petty embarked
upon a career in entertainment journalism and also worked for United States
Congress. She is currently working towards a Masters degree and resides in
Virginia.

Set in the fall of 2001 and purportedly based on actual
events. Michael Devoe, journalist for the New York Times, is the victim of the
most compelling evidences of disappearances ever documented in United States
History. After a plane crash, Michael disappears one night during an encounter
with an unexplained supernatural force. Authorities report that his body was
never found.

Excerpt

The flight attendant faced the
passengers. Over the roar of the engine, she spoke in a firm voice with a hint
of quiver, “We are going to be okay, please put your oxygen masks on,” then she
sat down and buckled her seat belt. The fat man and I were still standing.
Grimacing at my cramping hands, I kept my grip on the black metal bar.

In the midst of the now-panicked
passengers sat one woman, calmly flipping the pages of her Cosmopolitan
magazine and taking occasional sips of her Pepsi. She seemed so calm and
serene; I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She had long black hair and her face
was like that of a fashion model or actress. She was wearing a black dress and
needed no jewelry to define her long ivory-colored neck. This woman had the
whitest skin. Her limbs were long. She seemed to ignore everything around her
and was patiently waiting for the plane to crash.

As though
she felt me staring at her, she turned to look at me. Gooseflesh popped up all
over my skin when I looked into her cold gray eyes, then shifted my eyes to the
ground. I could smell the heavy smoke rising from the engines I stared at the
rain drops that splattered against the exit window. Smoke drifted into the
cabin of the plane.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

A love of supernatural literature led Australian author Gillian Joy
to write about Hannah, “the keeper and the protector of all supernatural.” Her first novel
GUARDIAN “contains all the supernatural you
could possibly want and more. There are vampires, witches, werewolves and
more!!” according to a reviewer. But even more important are “the depth of
the characters and Gillian Joy's ability to draw you into her story.”

When she's not writing, Gillian designs houses. She is possibly the only person I know who would list the movie
“Calamity Jane” as one of her favorites. For those of you who don’t remember,
it’s a Doris Day movie that features the song “Secret Love” and I, too, am a
fan. However, above all, she appreciates Hugh Jackman *sighs*.

Click
the link at the end of this article to check out the FIRST LOVE BLOG HOP and
learn about other participating authors and how to win a Kindle and many more
prizes.

Q: Why did you choose to write about the supernatural?

Gillian Joy: I love the supernatural. I read
The Vampire Lestat when I was a teenager and I fell in love with Lestat and
have been crazy about vampires ever since. It was just a natural progression
towards werewolves, fairies and angels as well, just to name a few that pop up
in the book.

Q: How do you help readers believe and accept the world and
characters you create?

Gillian Joy: Well it's fantasy, so technically
I don't really expect them to believe in the world I created, but I do want
them to believe in the personalities of the characters I've created. If the
reader can relate to the characters, then hopefully they can place themselves
in their positions and that in turn will let them get totally lost in the world
they live in, and that's my main aim when I'm writing. To create a world that
reader will lose themselves in.

Q: One of the reviewers of GUARDIAN said, “The character development of Hannah and Bernard is
especially endearing.” How do you make us care about your characters?
Why do we like your heroes? Why do we hate your villains?

Gillian Joy: I like to think I write
characters that are realistic and approachable. Everyday people with everyday
problems, they all have their strengths and their flaws.

Except perhaps for Gabriel, I have
been told he is perfection personified although personally I think he sometimes
tries to be a bit too controlling. Hannah can be too damn stubborn for
her own good far too often but she's just an independent woman who has learnt
to cope on her own, but she definitely learns and grows throughout the
series. I love her relationship with Bernard, and I think that's why my readers
do too, but without giving away spoilers, I find it amusing when readers
comment that they guessed their history in the beginning because I didn't even
know their history in the beginning. I was over half way through the book
before Hannah shared that little snippet of information with me.

I don't really know if the readers
hate my villains though. They are still people when it comes down to it, with
feelings and emotions and they're not always all bad, sometimes even I feel
sorry for them.

Q: Is GUARDIAN really a romance set in a supernatural setting? How
important is the setting to the story?

Gillian Joy: The setting isn't vital to the
story. It's more of a character driven romance. If you took the characters out
of the supernatural setting and placed them in everyday life the story would
still work. It wouldn't be anywhere near as exciting but it could still work.

Q: Do you write purely for entertainment? Or do you incorporate
messages to your readers?

Gillian Joy: Purely for entertainment, there
are no intentional messages at all so if readers see them in my current writing
then they are only projecting their own beliefs and opinions. Not that I have
issues with that, I want the reader to get what they want out of my stories.

Q: Why are you a writer? When did you first know that you
wanted to be a writer?

Gillian Joy: I used to
think about being a writer when I was a kid, but seriously, back then, being a
writer was like being an artist or an actor. It was fine to dream about but not
something you seriously considered as a career for the average person.

Things have changed a lot since
then, but it was only a few years ago that my husband convinced me to write
something. Books are one of my biggest vices, and I was reading a lot of fan
fiction and telling my husband how good some of it was when he suggested I
should write some. Problem was I already had Hannah flitting around in my head
making cameos in all the paranormal books I was reading, so I decided to tell
her story instead of one that had already been written. I wrote the first four
chapters and gave them to a friend to read and she begged me for more. Six
months later the first draft of GUARDIAN was finished and the hard work really
began.

Q: Tell us something about yourself, e.g., do you like to
exercise? Eat? Go to plays? What’s your favorite holiday, book, author,
character, play, movie, celebrity? What do you do when you’re not
writing? Do you have a muse?

Gillian Joy: Something about me? Ok! I'm
Australian. I want to be fitter than I am so, yes, I exercise but nowhere near
as much as I want to. I love food, too much and all sorts; I have a savory tooth
and a sweet tooth. I can't tell you my favorite book because there are far too
many. I really enjoyed the Hunger Games though, and I love a huge range of
genres. YA, paranormal, crime, horror. I am a bit of a Steven King fan and I
love Anne Rice, but even they have books I've hated. I don't think I will ever
finish Stephen King's Liseys story and Anne Rice's Violin was one of the worst
books I ever read.

One of my secret pleasures is the
old time musicals, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Fiddler on the Roof,
Calamity Jane just to name a few and I can't wait to go and see Les Miserable.
I listen to the score all the time and know it by heart. I don't really have a
favorite celebrity but I do have a couple of celebrity crushes. I love Supernatural
and am a big Dean fan and I'm also a huge Hugh Jackman fan, ah that hot Aussie
body *sighs*.

If I'm not writing I'm usually
working. I actually design houses for a living. Or preferably I'm just enjoying
time with my family, my husband and two kids, camping or 4wding.

I wouldn't really say I have a muse
but Hannah is definitely a very vocal presence in my head so I'm not sure
what's going to happen when I finish the GUARDIAN series. It'll be interesting
to see if she continues to feed me ideas or if someone else steps in and takes
over. Does that sound crazy? Oh well.

Author Profile

I'm a 41-year-old mother of two
who designs houses for a living and lives to write.

I grew up in the Western Suburbs
of Sydney Australia the eldest of five children. I had two younger brothers and
two much younger sisters. I say had because one of my brothers died when I was
only nineteen.

I once had a boss who told me I
had had a hard life but I never actually saw it that way. Life is what it is,
and I had food, clothes, a roof over my head and a family who loved me. What's
so hard about that?

These days I live on the
Mornington Peninsula, south east of Melbourne Australia where I spend as much
spare time as I can either with my nose in a book or writing away on my
phone. I love it here, there aren't too many places in the world that with less
that a ten minute drive you can watch the sun rise over the water, or you can
watch the sun set over the water, and there's just something extra special
about watching the sunset over the beach, something dreamy and romantic. I live
with my husband, two beautiful but willful kids a few fish and a very spoilt
English Staffie named Cleo.

I'm sure you don't want my whole
life story so that's about it in a nutshell. I suppose though I should add that
I really am a proud Australian. I love bbq's, thongs and vegimite
sandwiches and I even call my friends "mate". Oh and in winter I
can't live without my "ugg" boots.

Headstrong and determined, Hannah always knew
that she would become the Guardian. She was the keeper and the protector of all
supernatural. What she didn't expect was that it would mean she would have to
endure the agonizing death of her mother first hand as their supernatural
connection brings her to her knees, or that it would mean that she could never
be with the man she loved.

Blond haired, blue eyed Gabriel was her
handsome childhood friend, but would circumstances prevent her from ever being
able to explore her true feelings for him?

Jesse, the dark alluring but incorrigible
vampire would give anything to be with her, but as the guardian Hannah is
forbidden to fall in love with the supernatural.

With her life in turmoil over her conflicting
emotions about Gabriel and Jesse and her frustration at being unable to exact
revenge for her mother’s horrific death, Hannah flees her life in an attempt to
start over. But can we ever really escape from ourselves?

There is no escaping destiny no matter how
hard she might try and Hannah must learn to reconcile her commitment to her
family with her responsibility as the Guardian and her duty to her heart.

Hannah’s life has never been easy, despite
her strong willed determination and her extra “gifts”, it's still always been
hard work keeping an entire world full of the supernatural under control, but
having achieved a small semblance of control over most of the custas, Hannah
was hoping to be able to slip back into her life of normalcy. Wishful thinking
when you're the guardian of all supernatural.

With all the issues she’d had to endure in
her past, she'd never had to worry about the mermaids before, so why would they
choose now to suddenly start haunting her dreams and her life. Then there are
the fairies to contend with as well, just when she manages to get one aspect of
the crudelitas under control, the others decide it’s time to start causing
problems. All Hannah wants is some quiet family time and a chance to reflect
on her feelings for Gabriel but instead she's thrown back into the thick of the
supernatural world, and this time it threatens to invade the quiet family life
she has worked so hard to establish. There's no running away this time, she has
to front the challenges head on, but forever can be a long time if you can't be
with the one you love.

COMING SOON…

REVENGE

Hannah finally has everything she wants out
of life, devoted friends, a loving family, and the man of her dreams. Or does
she? Life is never easy when you are the “Guardian” of all the supernatural
beings, but surely this much heartache is more than one person was ever meant
to have to contend with?

The Nephilim are on the hunt again but this
time it’s not only the vampires they are hunting; and knowing that Hannah is
still on the lookout for a new Custas, why would the witches be willing to work
in conjunction with them? Then there’s Gabriel; after waiting for centuries to
be with Hannah, what could possibly ever entice him to want to kill her. With
all the supernatural issues she has to contend with how is it even possible a
human could be any sort of a threat to the family life Hannah has built.

For over three centuries, one thing has been
Hannah’s main driving force, but is it even possible for her to ever track
Phelip down and get the final Revenge, and the final peace she has been hunting
for.